Hollywood sold you the American dream.
James Bond marketed the Great Britain.
Bollywood must not reduce India to a land of entertainer.
Do you hear people who have never been to the USA, America is their dreamland?
When Starbucks opened in India, do you remember the craze around it?
Have you seen people line up outside newly opened american shops to grab a bite of what they have only seen in the movies?
What explains this charm around American ways and things? It is called soft power.
It's a term coined by American scientist Joseph Nye and a concept mastered by the Americans. Soft power. you could say, is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion.
So what does America want? To project itself as the world's most desirable country. In the most prized, treasured, cherished and priceless possession, anywhere in the world it's called American citizenship.
There is no higher honor and no greater privilege.
How did they sell the American dream? Through Hollywood, a walk on Times Square, weekends at Long Island, vacations in Miami, fall in Vermont, the Ivy League colleges, the steak and the beer.
Most of those applying for an H-1B visa or an American college want this life. They want to live the American culture, nothing wrong with that, it's just that American culture sounds oxymoronic.
What about India, the land of culture? How are we telling India's story to the world through Bollywood?
How is Bollywood telling India's story to the world? By reducing us to entertainers.
Think of a Hollywood movie, one where the planet is being attacked by aliens. Who do you see stepping up to fight for the human race? An American superhero. Look closely. Where are all the important decisions being taken? In the White House. This is Hollywood building America's image, projecting Washington as the global superpower, the upholder of human rights and dignity, the harbinger of democracy and justice.
Come aliens or the end of the world, the president of America is on his toes and he is the man calling the shots. What are Indians doing? Dancing. When Ravan shows up, the job of Bollywood's first superhero, unless you're countering Shakti Man.
Bollywood is not interested in taking India's narrative forward. In American movies, first Russia and now China is the villain. They're in tune with geopolitics.
In Bollywood, we go from Chandni Chok to China.
In Bollywood. Our heroes in uniform can be so cliched that they are falling in love with women from an enemy country.
How else will their love story be tragic? We are not against falling in love with whoever you want to. We are talking about soft power and cinema here.
America calls Iran the world's biggest exporter of terrorism. India gives that prestigious title to its dear neighbour on the west. In Hollywood, Iran is the bad guy.
In Bollywood, a puppy-eyed girl from Pakistan is harassed by Indian men and sold to a brothel. I am not saying spew hate, but at least do not blur the narrative.
Soft power is about whose story wins. This is Bollywood making Pakistan's story win.
In another movie, Salman Khan is a raw agent. He elopes with his counterpart from Pakistan's ISI. Indians and Pakistanis are shown as equally bad. And then all of these movies become box office hits. Because all we care for is masala, entertainment.
Bollywood is well within its rights to make movies just for entertainment. It doesn't have to push India's narrative. After all, how is it being rewarded by the government of India?
Hollywood movies get incentives for filming at home. They get tax shelters, cash rebates, grants.
The UK and Malta provide easy clearances and rebates up to 30 to 40 percent.
In India, the incentives are much lower.
Getting permission for historical sites is difficult. American movies can shoot at NASA. The space agency lent its space suits for the 1998 film Armageddon. Hollywood can use NASA's property and even the logo. Transformers shot at not one, not two, but four different NASA locations. But filmmakers of mission Mongol had to recreate a set that looked like ISRO. If India wants Bollywood to carry its narrative forward, it has to offer a symbiosis. Offer incentives. Indian film industry is the world's largest producer of movies. In 2018, India made 2022 films. In 2017, the number was 1907.
The film industry is among the fastest growing sectors. It is recession-proof. Bollywood is watched by people across the globe. Bollywood celebrities are admired globally.
It is the job of the government to tap into the potential of this industry. It is the job of the government to harness Bollywood's soft power. The Chinese president is asking filmmakers to make science fiction movies to push the Chinese narrative. When the UK wanted to promote the London Olympics, it invited James Bond into the Buckingham Palace.
America is using superheroes to sell dreams and coffee.
What is stopping India?
Link to this article.
Bollywood & Hollywood.
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